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Jason Collins' dad said 'If you're gay, that's OK'

By Jon Wilner, Bay Area News Group

Updated:
04/29/2013 04:53:03 PM EDT

Boston Celtics center Jason Collins (R), grabs a rebound away from Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver in the first half of their NBA basketball game in Atlanta, Georgia in this file photo taken January 5, 2013. (By Tami Chappell, Reuters)

SAN JOSE -- How does a child come out to his or her parents?

In the case of NBA player and former Stanford star Jason Collins, it goes something like this:

"'Can you guys come over? I want to talk about something,' '' Paul Collins told this newspaper Monday after his son became the first openly gay athlete in a major American team sport.

"When you get a call like that, you don't know what it is. So Portia and I went over to his house and sat down. And he said, 'I'm gay, and I want you guys to know.'

"My initial reaction was: I love you, and if you're gay, that's OK. As a parent, you just want you children to feel good about themselves."

Collins, 34, who lives in Southern California, came out to his family last summer. He told his aunt, Teri, a superior court judge in San Francisco, his twin brother, Jarron, who also played at Stanford and in the NBA, and then his parents.

"We had no indication, even in hindsight,'' Paul Collins said. "He did a good job masking it.

"But when he says, 'Here's the situation,' you take a deep breath and tell 'em you love 'em.''